Kyrillos II (Papadopoulos) of Cyprus

His Beatitude Kyrillos II (Papadopoulos) of Cyprus was Archbishop of Nea Justiniana and All Cyprus and the ruling hierarch of the Church of Cyprus from 1908 to 1916. He was a staunch Greek nationalist and an advocate of the union of Cyprus with Greece.

Life

In 1844, Kyrillos Papadopoulos, Greek: Κύριλλος Παπαδόπουλος), was born in the village of Prodromos in Limassol District on the island of Cyprus. He was later given the nicknamed Kyrillatsos (big Kyrillos) to differentiate him from Kyrillos III.

He studied in Jerusalem at the Theological School of the Holy Cross (Greek: Θεολογική Σχολή του Τιμίου Σταυρού) between 1866 and 1872. Later, he taught at the Greek School of Nicosia. He was elected to the legislature of Nicosia-Kyrenia, but gave up because he couldn't find his name in the election directories for voting. He, also, was member of the Law Council of Cyprus between 1889 and 1911 and a committee member of Paphos metropolis during the years 1888 and 1889.

In 1889, he was elected Metropolitan of Kyrenia. As metropolitan of Kyrenia, he attempted to re-unite to the Orthodox Church the Linobabakoi, people who were hidden Christians that lived as Muslims.

He was elected metropolitan of Kitium (Larnaca) after the death of its metropolitan. Also, while he was the metropolitan of Kitium, he flew the Greek flag at the Trooditissa Monastery in September 6, 1902 while Cyprus was controlled by Great Britain.

As a strong Greek nationalist, Kyrillos II Papadopoulos came into strong disagreement with another Bp. Kyrillos, Kyrillos III, who would be Papadopoulos' successor after the death of Abp. Sophronius III of Cyprus in 1900. Bp. Kyrillos III was more amenable to the British presence on Cyprus and had disputed Kyrillos II Papadopoulos' initial claim to the see of Cyprus, resulting in the see remaining vacant. Their differences intensified after the British instituted a law in 1907 regulating the election of the archbishop, thus involving the patriarchates of Constantinople, Jerusalem, and Alexandria. In 1908, Kyrillos II was elected Archbishop of Cyprus, to the vacant see. Their disagreement was finally reconciled after the Greek government intervened in February 1910.